Houston Rockets: McDaniels and Prigioni: Will They Fit?

The trade deadline has passed and the Houston Rockets once again were mentioned in the news cycle shortly thereafter.

For a moment there, I was wondering if Daryl Morey had a deal done or if everything had fallen apart.

I thought to myself, “there’s no way, Morey’s a sharpshooter, he always finds a way.”

But as time slowly kept creeping up to the deadline, I began to have my doubts.

Shortly thereafter, just a few minutes after the deadline, the news started to trickle out that the Rockets had made deals with two separate teams — the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks.

The Rockets acquired guard/forward K.J. McDaniels from the Sixers in exchange for Isaiah Canaan and a second-round pick.

The next deal was announced almost simultaneously with the Rockets acquiring guard Pablo Prigioni from the Knicks.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Rockets will ship two first-round picks for the veteran:

Houston will send New York two second-round picks for Prigioni, source tells Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 19, 2015

Wojnarowski also reported that guard Alexey Shved was packaged in the deal with the Knicks as well:

Houston has traded Alexy Schved to the New York Knicks, league source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 19, 2015

This was type of deal was what I was expecting.

Although I had my hopes that we’d land Goran Dragic or Enes Kanter — I even had predicted that we’d get Kanter — they ended up falling into the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s lap respectively.

There was Morey again, always making the deal that maybe we as fans didn’t necessarily want but it’s one that was needed to be made.

The name that immediately resonated with me was McDaniels the rookie out of Clemson University and how he was going to make an immediate impact to our team.

I’ve always like his play and it will be nice to have him as an asset and on board with us!

The guy can shoot, rebound and shot block which are all of the qualities that are needed in a player like him.

December 30, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard

K.J. McDaniels

(14, left) and Golden State Warriors guard

Stephen Curry

(30, right) fight for a loose ball during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the 76ers 126-86. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

I would categorize him as a “big guard” because of all of the things he does like a forward should do.

As of late, he’s averaged 18.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per 100 possessions.

Those numbers could serve to be quite useful and McDaniels will be a regular part of the rotation, more than likely giving Trevor Ariza and James Harden a rest when it’s needed.

When McHale is also playing the lineups, I’m sure he’ll insert McDaniels if they decide to go big.

One thing McDaniels does is play defense which is a chief reason why Morey went out and got him.

His defensive win shares are a 1.4 despite the few wins that the 76ers have so that says quite a bit.

His turnover percentage (TOV%) is quite high at 17.9 but I think he can continue to work at reduce that as he gets his feet wet in the league.

The budding, young prospect is going to fit in nicely.

Jan 24, 2015; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward

Tony Allen

(9) handles the ball against Philadelphia 76ers guard K.J. McDaniels (14) during the game at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

But, on the other hand, the Rockets picking up Prigioni had me scratching my head at first.

But when I realized it, Morey was trying to work hard to find a replacement for Canaan because he had to be included in the McDaniels deal.

The positives about Prigioni is that he definitely is a ball distributor, can shoot the ball well all-around and is a decent at rebounding for a guard.

He currently is averaging 13.4 points, 7.0 assists, 5.4 rebounds, 3.5 steals while shooting 42 percent FG, 37 percent three-point FG and 85 percent from the charity stripe per 100 possessions.

His TOV% is astronomical at 21.4 but again that’s something the Rockets are willing to live with.

He is highly-regarded as a guard that usually makes good decisions with the basketball and you can likely chalk that up to how dysfunctional and irrelevant the Knicks are.

Dec 7, 2014; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks guard

Pablo Prigioni

(9) drives to the basket against Portland Trail Blazers guard

Damian Lillard

(0) during second half at Madison Square Garden. The Portland Trail Blazers won 103-99.Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Prigioni is a world-renowned guard that has starred on many Euroleague teams and continues to be Argentina’s pride of joy when it comes to the hardwood being a focal point of their national team as a floor general throughout the past decade.

However, the 37-year-old has just two years in the NBA which, in the grand scheme of things, won’t matter at all because of his overall experience.

It’s better late than never as they say and he’s in the league now.

All in all, I think these guys will fit the bill as they will help bolster our bench as we head toward the finish line.

We didn’t give up too much for these guys so why not shake things up and make this deal?

It’s tough to see ‘Lil Sip go because he was a favorite of mine but it’s business.

Houston Rockets: K.J. McDaniels and Pablo Prigioni: Will They Fit?

By Brian K. Patterson | Feb 20, 2015